Advice from John Green

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Full disclosure: I have never read a John Green book. I don’t know why, other than I’m not interest in them. Totally judging books by covers and back-blurbs, but… meh.

I am full cognizant of Green’s status as a powerhouse of modern American literature. Even if I’m not personally interest in his books, I’d be a dope to ignore his advice on writing itself.

As such, I follow him on socials (where he is hilarious, honest, and generally disheveled.) I watched a short video of his regarding prepositions and verbs which stuck with me. (Figuratively, as I didn’t save the video and have not been able to find it again.) (AI search to the rescue: it found a quote for me to fact check to ensure I wasn’t just imagining the whole thing.)

So, what is a meaningful preposition? Prepositions describe “spatial and temporal” relationships between objects and subjects in grammar. I set my cup on the desk. You entered after me. Prepositions relay information of where and when things happen in a sentence.

There are lots of them, something around 150 per google search. With so many to choose from, how can we pick the right ones?

Green’s advice is to substitute weak prepositions for strong ones. ‘Atop’ rather than ‘on.’ ‘Among’ rather than ‘in.’ Paired with powerful verbs, you can punch up the description of a scene without resorting to excessive adverb use.

Let’s practice:

The wind blew gently —> Wind whispered through the trees.

“Okay,” she said sullenly—> “Okay,” she muttered.

I walked through the crowd —> I edged between the close-packed pedestrians.

Wait, wait, wait! I’ve been told to only use ‘said!’ Keep the surrounding language simple to drive the impact of the dialogue!

As all good things, too much ruins the effect. If the entire book is heavy with purpose, dense descriptions and dramatic speech, then you lose the chance to highlight truly important moments. If every scene is saturated and loud, it just becomes part of the noise.

Writing words is like writing a piece of music. There are loud moments and soft. Fast and slow, sad and happy. You orchestrate to reflect the tone and feeling of your scenes.

I just finished a trilogy and, while the premise was interesting, I got to the end and thought: no one is that self-sacrificing every moment of every day. No one has only contentious relationships, people aren’t that one dimensional in their actions. There were serious stakes in the plot, but everything was presented as serious and dire. There was no relief, not in the characters’ actions or the people she interacted with. Everyone was trying to get an edge, had an ulterior motive, or was just difficult to work with. It was exhausting as a reader and dulled the impact of the truly pivotal moments.

So, my advice, influenced by Mr. Green, as well as the anonymous and ubiquitous ‘only use said’ camp, is to consider these ‘rules’ and apply them as needed. Do I overuse adverbs? Maybe. Could I ramp up the prepositions? Perhaps. Do I need to drastically alter my writing style to conform to these ideals? No. Take all advice as just that: advice. Think on it. Consider how it applies to your writing and apply as needed.

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My first book, Archer 887, is a 2022 Indies Today Awards Contest Finalist, and is on sale now through online book retailers. Pick up a copy, leave a review, and let me know what you think!

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